Shear Wave Elastography for Carotid Artery Stiffness: Ready for Prime Time?

Figures

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  Figure 1. M-Mode image for calculating the β-stiffness formula. Systolic and diastolic diameters were measured to derive the arterial stiffness based on β-stiffness index.

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  Figure 2. Comparison of the confidence maps during the diastolic phase when the ROI box was positioned on the anterior and posterior walls versus the sole ROI box placement at the posterior carotid wall. Confidence maps are shown on the right of each figure. “Green” areas suggest a safe measurement. An ROI box placement on the right figure enhanced the SWE measurement reliability by reducing the motion artifacts.

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  Figure 3. Comparison of ROIs’ diameter during the diastolic phase. Measurements show improved precision with the 1 mm ROI (right figure) compared to the 2 mm ROI (left figure). Confidence maps are shown on the right of each figure. “Green” areas suggest a safe measurement. The ROIs were placed on the IMC and the 1 mm ROIs presented a more accurate set of measurements.

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  Figure 4. Bland–Altman plots for the left CCA measurements by two independent observers. The red line illustrates the agreement between the two independent examiners, showing mild inter-observer variability. The blue lines highlight the intra-observer variability. The blue dots represent the individual data points for the elasticity differences, while the dark gray line represents the mean difference across all measurements.

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  Figure 5. Bland–Altman plots for the right CCA measurements by two independent observers. The red line illustrates the agreement between two independent examiners, showing no significant difference. The blue lines highlight the intra-observer variability.